Premier Roger Cook has doubled down on Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s “billionaire bashing”, saying it will harm his prospects in WA’s resources-reliant electorates.
Mr Dutton is opposing the Federal Government’s tax incentives for the critical minerals sector, comparing the support to “tax cuts for billionaires”.
However, Mr Cook on Wednesday echoed earlier comments by Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King that Mr Dutton’s position is “anti-WA”.
“Peter Dutton is unashamedly targeting outer suburbs in major cities in Australia and he believes that to bash billionaires somehow garners support,” Mr Cook told the AFR Mining Summit in Perth.
“The fact of the matter is that in WA, people who live in those outer suburbs work in the resources industry and in many cases work for those billionaires.
“So that’s the reason I say that the Liberal Party’s stance in relation to this is anti-Western Australian.
“I think West Australians get that our prosperity is built on the resources industry.”
More to come.